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Woman dies after scooter accident
By JESSE FRUHWIRTHWOODS CROSS -- A Taylorsville mother on a pleasure drive Monday died when traffic slowed to a crawl and she didn't stop her scooter.
Mechanical failure may have caused the crash, but that was not determined Monday, police say.
Michelle Rioja, 36, and her husband were each driving a scooter before 4:15 p.m., said Woods Cross police Cpl. Michael Buchanan. Westbound traffic on 500 South before 1100 West slowed to 10 or 15 mph, then stopped, he said.
"When she realized the traffic was stopped, she lost control and went down," he said.
She died of a head injury, Buchanan said; neither she nor her husband were wearing a helmet.
The woman's mother approached the crash scene more than an hour after it occurred.
"My daughter was involved in this accident," she said to Buchanan.
"How much have they told you?" he asked. They spoke privately for a moment, but the woman soon wailed and cried.
"When they said they weren't taking her to the hospital, I feared she's dead," the woman said. "I knew then, I knew in my gut."
She cried to go see her daughter's body, which was in the street, covered with a sheet. Large evidence-marking numbers dotted the scene as the medical examiner continued the investigation.
"David, David," the mother yelled to Rioja's husband. "Did somebody hit her?"
"No, she ran into the back of somebody else," he said solemnly.
Rioja's husband told police, "Usually I drive up ahead ... I stopped and I didn't see her stop, then she shot past me real quick."
David, who did not provide his last name, said they share a 14-year-old son and that Rioja was a "kind and generous person." He declined further comment.
Buchanan said Rioja had the proper motorcycle endorsement on her driver's license, indicating she had completed a safety course for motorbike driving.
"(David) said they wanted to take a leisurely tour of the area to see how far they could go on a scooter," Buchanan said.
She said the scooter was only one year old, had only 1,800 miles on its odometer and didn't show any obvious signs of mechanical failure.
Buchanan said a scooter with 1,800 miles would not ordinarily have already needed a brake replacement.
He said Rioja had driven the scooter before in the year it was owned.
A medical helicopter had been called to the scene, but left when Rioja was declared dead.
The road closure caused by the investigation backed up eastbound traffic past the curve to Redwood Road for more than an hour. Westbound traffic backed up past the 500 South interchange for a short while.
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My wife was killed in a motorcycycle accident 3 years ago this week. She was only going about 15 MPH and wasn't wearing a helmet.... just a quick ride around the block. I feel your pain. She left behind three young children. My condolences to all who have been affected by her death.
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